Steinbeck and the Last Visible Dog.

I have just finished reading 'East of Eden' by John Steinbeck. It's my second reading and a better one, because I took my time and read it properly, thinking about it as I went, sucking the marrow, so to speak.

I am struck by the similarity of Hoburn's philosophy in 'The Last Visible Dog' and the idea explored by Steinbeck of guilt, right and wrong, personal growth and personal accountability vs. fate, etc. 

When I revisited my ex once, he had a note on his fridge 'If it's to be, it's up to me'. It doesn't matter that this seemed a new idea for him, something he had to remind himself. Some of us are helped by parenting and circumstance to know this, to have incorporated it, and others not. 

These are different ways of seeing the same idea.

The older I get, the more I am disquieted by the idea of atonement. I am uncomfortable with the notion of karma. These, to me, smack of childish superstition.  I feel 'forgiveness of sins' is not useful.  They all remove personal accountability and the incentive, even necessity, for personal growth.

Here is one summary of 'East of Eden'.  It's a nicely crafted story, gritty, graceful. Allegorical. Great Steinbeck. 

That Hat

 

Good Morning from the Town

It's such a pleasure to see the sky wearing its morning sunrise garb, even if the foreground is urban - my neighbour's roof. 6.59am. We have heavy rain forecast tonight so I might check the gutters today. Although I cleaned them only recently, the trees are shedding their leaves at a great rate. We have a a very rainy summer in New Zealand, including several significant flood events. 

Deepest Darkest New Zealand

 Exactly a year ago I was a place in New Zealand I have never been, despite this being a relatively smallish three(-ish) islands, and me living here for 60 (-ish) years. 

I will call it Deepest Darkest New Zealand, even 'tho' wet and wild Fiordland at the Southwestern part of NZ is probably a little deeper and darker. (Here was re-discovered the amazing Takahe, the very rare, thought-to-be-extinct, stumpy-legged, flightless, fat, evolved version of the common blue swamphen which is seen throughout Asia.)

Anyway, Arthur's Pass is one of the four main passes through the backbone of mountains that run up the South Island.  There's not much at Arthur's except a cafe or two and a cluster of small houses, a conservation information centre, and a petrol station. Roy and I were lucky enough to be offered the use of a house belonging to my sister-in-law, and that's where we were, exactly a year ago, fossicking in the dripping beech forest and, a little further up the road, in the pristine alpine gardens, while almost all the populated part of New Zealand sweltered in summer droughts and, sadly, haze from the Australian bushfires... 

Imagine moss everywhere, slugs, spiders, harvestmen, centipedes, beetles, moths, lichens, fungi ...  A cornucopia of things of great interest to my travelling companion Swedish photographer friend Roy, and I.

We had only about a week to go before he had to fly out (just beating Covid border closures) back to Sweden, the two of us having had from mid November - 3 months straight - travelling and bug-hunting. all over New Zealand from top to almost the bottom. Marvellous! Pull up a chair to this blog, as over the next while I'll retrace our steps...

Spider-Mad

 Today I found four new (to me) species of spider in my garden.  Given that I have been here for 27 (twenty-seven!) years this coming March, and, especially in the las ten, have been actively looking for critters at least every week, it's rather amazing. I post them on iNaturalist and eventually, if it's possible, some kind entomologist will identify them, if I can't. Since I last blogged, I have had lots of (mainly critter-oriented) adventures, this can serve as an introduction. 

Here is the first of this species I have ever seen - a Bird-dropping spider.  I walked past it twice at first before I realised that bird-poo is rarely symmetrical. 

Yellow Things

I am sometimes - rarely - overwhelmed by a desire to order and categorise things... even in messy places like my garden.  Anyone else enjoy organising sometimes just a little bit too much ? 
Here's some photos of yellow things in my album that I tagged 'yellow' ...

Do not ...

Here's a choice. But very much N O T my own!
Having said that, it makes for a harder 'live'.


I'm reading 'Room With a View' and Lucy sings:

"Look not thou on beauty’s charming,
Sit thou still when kings are arming,
Taste not when the wine-cup glistens,
Speak not when the people listens,
Stop thine ear against the singer,
From the red gold keep thy finger;
Vacant heart and hand and eye,
Easy live and quiet die."

- Sir Walter Scott
from The Bride of Lammermoor.

It reminds me of Dylan Thomas : Do not Go Gentle ...